Look Here, Read: Ten more “Teena” Sundays by Hilda Terry

A reader by the name of Tim recently posted to say that he would love to see more of Hilda Terry’s “Teena” here at RCN. Well, Tim, today is your lucky day! Because just this morning I scanned ten more “Teena” Sunday strips for your (and my, and everyone else’s) reading pleasure. And here they are (with more to come at a later date, if reader response is good — 😉 ):

[CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE]

Now I’m no expert in publishing, but I have long thought that the good folks at Drawn & Quarterly ought to make a concerted effort to acquire the rights to reprint “Teena,” from start to finish, in a series of archive collections. Because it seems to me that Hilda Terry would fit in perfectly on D&Q’s current author list alongside John Stanley, Kate Beaton, Tove Jansson, Doug Wright, and Lynda Barry. And I’m almost certain that cartoonist and comics historian Trina Robbins would jump at the chance to assist with (or edit!) such a project. So hop to it Chris Oliveros! Make it happen!

Sorry if you got more than one instance of this comment, there were Java errors each time I tried to leave it. Thanks so much for these, I surely would support any company trying to put a book together out of this strip. I could quote anything you’ve said in the previous Teena posts, so I’ll just add that what’s so inspiring to me is the confident line art, never unsure of what it’s expressing. Always a shame when something like this goes forgotten.

No worries, Tim. Only one comment made it through. I’m a little concerned, however, that you had any trouble at all. This blog doesn’t receive many comments, but nobody else who has posted has ever complained about Java errors. Did you encounter similar problems when you replied to my “heads up” for The Art of Howard Chaykin, or was this the first time?

BTW, I’m delighted to have you on board in support of a reprint of Hilda Terry’s “Teena.” Now we are two. 😉

P.S. In addition to everything else — line, gesture, body language, panel composition, etc. — I really love what Hilda Terry does with clothing and fabric patterns in her comics. The outfits that Teena, Pipsy, and their friends wear always look terrific.

Looking back it may have been a symptom of my NoScript extension for Firefox, I had only just white-listed raggedclaws before posting, maybe I should have refreshed. Probably nothing to worry about on your end.

“I really love what Hilda Terry does with clothing and fabric patterns in her comics. The outfits that Teena, Pipsy, and their friends wear always look terrific.” Did you know that one of Hilda Terry’s early ambitions was to be a fashion designer?

I’m sorry that it took me what looks like 4 years to find your site and these pages. I was familiar with A1 and Standard TEENA scans and always found them quite charming — so true to the sounds of teen life and the stature of the teen body, both quite loose and lanky and twisted in all directions. But for some reason, I never realized till last year that it was an ongoing tabloid Sunday comic. But it seems to be really hard to find! Are these taken from Sunday inserts? The colors looks so solid and even a bit slick, compared to the comic book reprints and most tear sheets.

I love the progress and development of her artwork over years. At first I preferred the more solid and then rumpled look of the ’40s, but now the mid-50s modernism of these figures — flattened and stretched — have sort of won me over. Thanks so much more sharing them, and for any additional info you can have about their newspaper publishing history.

Sorry for the delayed reply, Peter. As I recall, I scanned the colour Teena strips from the print-on-demand book, The Baby Sitter’s Magic Mouse Story Book, by Hilda Terry and Job Matusow. I think the book includes 25 strips in all. So… not much, but a nice find anyway.